The postoperative analgesic effect of intercostal nerve block and intravenous patient-controlled analgesia on patients undergoing lung cancer surgery.

Objective: This research investigated the combined analgesic effects of intercostal nerve block and intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) on patients after lung cancer surgery.

Methods: 95 patients with thoracoscopic radical resection of lung cancer from April 2017 to July 2020 were enrolled as the research objects, and randomly divided into observation-group (n=50) and control-group (n=45) by random number table. The control-group received intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA), and the observation group received combinative treatment of intercostal nerve block and IV-PCA. The changes of VAS scores and Ramsay sedation scores postoperatively, the satisfaction with analgesia of patients, the number of IV-PCA pump compressions and the incidence of postoperative anaesthetic-related adverse reactions were compared between the two groups.

Results: The VAS score of the observation-group was markedly lower than that of the control-group 2 h, 4 h, 8 h, 12 h and 24 h after surgery (). There was no statistically significant difference in Ramsay sedation scores between the two groups 2 h, 4 h, 8 h, 12 h and 24 h after surgery (). The satisfaction score of analgesia and the times of IV-PCA pump compressions of the observation group were obviously less than those of the control group (). The incidences of nausea and emesia, bradycardia and somnolence between the two groups of objects were statistically insignificant ().

Conclusion: The combinative treatment of intercostal nerve block and IV-PCA is safe and have obviously postoperative analgesic effect on patients undergoing thoracoscopic resection of lung cancer.